App Store Generated More Revenue, Google Play had a Higher Growth Rate [Report]

Besides reporting a record holiday quarter, Apple’s App Store is also generating 3.5 times more revenue for developers than Google Play, App Annie’s latest report (via 9to5Mac) highlights.
In terms of revenue, the App Store is a clear leader, but Google Play has recorded a stronger growth by doubling revenue quarter over quarter. Yet, Google Play falls behind in app monetization, as it generated 3.5 times less money for developers than iOS did last December.

As the App Annie January 2013 index points out, the App Store revenue grew by about one-fifth from Q3 to Q4 of 2012 achieving record revenues in December, as monthly revenue increase with 34% from November to December. This was due to record holiday iPhone, iPad and iPad mini sales, which triggered record iOS device activation and set the app downloads bar even higher for the holiday season.
While the top five countries based on revenue remained the same over the past six months – United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada – China is gaining traction, which isn’t much of a surprise considering Tim Cook called China Apple’s second biggest market, with sales numbers rising.

In the last few months, however, one country has been closing in: China moved from the eighth slot to the seventh in October, and is now the sixth-ranking country as of December. Given its recent growth rates and its population size, China’s eventual revenue potential for the iOS App Store cannot be ignored.

The App Annie report also provides a list of top publishers by monthly downloads and monthly revenue. You can check it out by following this link.